Welcome to Falkirk Camera ClubFalkirk Camera Club was initially established in 1889 under the name of Falkirk Amateur Photographic Association which brought together a few keen enthusiasts at the dawn of photography. Since then the club has taken various names and finally adopted the current title in 1958. More on the history of the club can be found on the club web site.FCC meet on a Thursday evening each week, September to April, when we hold a number of events. We may have a guest speaker, hold internal competitions, host external competitions with another Camera Club or have one of our members’ evenings where we invite members to bring in their own equipment to discuss photographic or camera issues.The first day of each yearly session normally consist of a quick resume and get together with the opportunity for potential new members to get to know members and the format of the club.

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Constitution and GovernanceThe business of the club is conducted by the Committee comprising of a core of President, Vice President, Treasurer, General Secretary, Syllabus Secretary, Competition Secretaries and Public Relations Secretary.Ancillary positions exist for a Web Controller and Sub Committee. The Committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting of members held at the end of each yearly session, usually mid April. Constitution, rules and other documentation are available to members on request or for viewing through our website.

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Funding and SubscriptionsThe Club is principally funded by annual subscription at a rate set at the AGM. Payment of the annual subscription is due at the commencement of each session in September. Potential new members are welcome to attend the Club up to three weeks without having to pay the annual subscription whilst deciding whether or not to join the Club. Each member will pay a nominal fee at the door to cover costs such as refreshments and ancillary costs. Non-members visiting also pay this fee. Invited guests (visiting club members, guest speakers, etc) do not. Club funds are partly supplemented by additional activities, such as Saturday or evening run tutorials, which help offset the extra cost incurred by the use of the premises outwith normal dates.

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MeetingsMeetings start prompt at 7.30pm and aim to finish by 9.30pm latest. A typical evening will start with an update on immediate club business followed by the scheduled event for that evening (see Syllabus). The club attracts a wide range of interesting speakers covering a variety of topics and levels of expertise. The opportunity is usually available to speak with the guest speaker informally over the tea break midway through the evening.

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SyllabusThe Syllabus Secretary compiles an annual programme. Members receive a printed copy of the syllabus at the start of each session. The syllabus is also published on the club web site making it available to the public. The Club often holds additional events at a weekend or evening, which may be tuition or workshop based. The Club may organise overnight trips away and day trips to suitable locations.

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Junior membersThe Club encourages junior members, aged 14 to 18 years. Those under 16 require to be accompanied by an adult. Their membership fee is set at a lower rate than an adult’s.

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Internal Club CompetitionsEach session features monthly league and annual competitions. The Internal Competition Secretary will collate images and liaises with judges for competitions. Members are encouraged to submit images for competitions during the Club session. Entering competitions not only provides the opportunity to receive feedback on members’ own work but provides material for the club to enter external competitions and exhibitions. The Club has two sections for competitions, an A and a B section. Generally A Section is for the more advanced photographer and B is for those starting out in photography and the Club. If you are an experienced photographer you may have a selection of your work judged by a panel and if suitable you can be promoted immediately to A section in any of the categories.The Club has a number of internal competitions with categories, which include Monochrome prints, Colour prints, Projected Digital Images (PDI) for both A and B Sections, Print Of The Year for both colour and monochrome and Audio Visual (AV) presentation. Morein depth information of these competitions can be found on the FCC web site.There are five internal monthly competitions, an internal wildlife competition and an internal AV competition. There is also an internal Knockout, each leg of which is judged on each of the five monthly competition nights, the final of which is judged on the annual Projected Digital Image (PDI) and Print of the Year (PotY) evening. All competitions are governed by club rules. Details of the rules and criteria are also on the club web site.

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External competitionsThe External Competition Secretary collates images and submits them to the relevant bodies for competition. FCC have annual competitions against Stirling and District Camera Club (known as the “Stirling Battle”) and also against another group of clubs known as the “Five Way“ (Stirling, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Kirkintilloch, Airdrie and Coatbridge). “The Williamson Trophy”, another annual competition, between Falkirk, Stirling and Kirkintilloch. These competitions are hosted on a rotational basis by the clubs. The External Competition Secretary selects and submits images on behalf of FCC to the Scottish Photographic Federation (SPF) competitions. This highlights the importance of submitting images to internal competitions which gives a selection to choose from should there be a lack of images on initial request. PDI mages are submitted to the SPF for competition in November and print images for the SPF Print championship in January or February each year.

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Competition JudgingThe Club invites an independent judge to judge all internal competitions and those with other clubs. Judges are drawn from the SPF and GDPU (Glasgow District Photographic Union) list. On the night of the competition the judge will read out their comments andmarks for each image. Both SPF and GDPU organise courses for aspiring judges.

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Club website : www.falkirkcameraclub.co.uk

FCC website holds various club documents, including Competition Rules and Constitution. The club website is maintained by the Web Controller who has responsibility to ensure that no inappropriate material is shown on the site and that no personal or commercial advertising is displayed. Galleries can be found on the website with images drawn from submissions to FCC internal competitions.

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FCC Constitution

TitleThe club will be called the Falkirk Camera Club.ObjectThe object of the club shall be to promote good fellowship and an interest in practice and instruction in photography.Management

The business of the club shall be conducted by a committee consisting of the,President Vice-president.General Secretary TreasurerSyllabus Secretary PublicRelations SecretaryInternal Competition SecretaryExternal Competition SecretaryWeb ControllerThree other sub-committee members

All office bearers and sub-committee members shall be elected annually, at the General Meetng of members (AGM) to be held at the end of each season. A quorum will consist of the majority of the currently siting members of the committee. Should any vacancy occur during the year, the Committee may co-opt additional members and may appoint such sub-committees as necessary or desirable. The Committee shall meet once a month during the season or as may be required.General MeetingA General Meeting may be called on ten days’ notice to members.Extraordinary General MeetingThe President will be bound to call an extraordinary General Meeting on requisition signed by ten or more members, such requisi”on specifying the special business to be discussed.SubscriptionThe amount of subscription, including junior membership (age 14-18 year old), shall be fixed annually at the AGM, which amount will be due and payable at the commencement of the season.ResignationAll resignations should be notified to the Secretary, preferably in writing.

MembershipPotential club members can join by attending up to three meetings, to decide whether or not they want to become a member, then by paying the annual membership subscription to the Treasurer. Membership is open to all regardless of gender, race or religious views.The Committee reserves the right to refuse membership or terminate existing membership in exceptional circumstances, should it become necessary, and with good reason. Anyone who is refused membership or has their membership terminated has the right to appeal in writing to the Committee.FundsCorrect accounts and books shall be kept by the Treasurer and a statement submitted annually, duly audited by an independent, experienced person.Assets and ObligationsThe property, effects and funds of the Club shall belong equally to the members during membership and members shall be liable equally for debts and obligations of the Club. The right and interest and liability of every member shall expire with his or her membership.On the cessation of Falkirk Camera Club, all assets, including those purchased with lottery funding will be distributed to another non-profit making body with similar aims. Any unspent lottery funding will be returned to the source. Alterations and Amendments No alteration or addition to the foregoing constitution shall be valid unless passed by a three quarter majority of members present at a meeting of which ten clear days’ notice shall have been given, and the exact nature of the alterations and oradditions detailed.Last amended –April 2017

Best In Wildlife. Donald Polson Trophy. A single stand alone competion open to all members to submit up to three of their best wildlife images in PDI format. Rules (1) (4) apply.

Audio Visual/Digital Image Sequence. Don McDougall Trophy. AV competition open to all members to submit up to three sequences for the winner to be selected by a judge. Don McDougall Memorial Competion rules apply.

Monochrome Print of the Year. Wm. Forman Trophy. A single ‘stand alone’ competition, open to all members, towards the end of the season where members submit up to three images and the winner selected by a judge. Rules (1) (2) (3) apply.

Colour Print of the Year. Eric Bryson Trophy. A single ‘stand alone’ competition, open to all members, towards the end of the season where members submit up to three images and the winner selected by a judge. Rules (1) (2) (3) apply.

Projected Digital Image of the Year. Stanley Bloch Trophy. A single ‘stand alone’ competition, open to all members, towards the end of the season where members submit up to three images and the winner selected by a judge. Rules (1) (2) (4) apply.

PDI Knock-out Stanley Bloch Memorial Trophy. Members submit up to four images at the start of the season and through a ‘knock-out’ process over the season a winner determined. PDI Knock-Out rules apply.

Best Beginner – Mono, Colour & PDI Alex Drennan Trophy. Awarded to the member in Sec”on “B” who has shown most progress throughout the range of competition categories they entered.

External competitions

Inter-club Competition with competition for mono and colour. Two competitions collectively known as “The Williamson” Print only competition between Falkirk, Stirling and Kirkintilloch. For two categories, colour and monochrome, each with it’s own trophy. Each club submits six mono and eight colour prints; maximum of two images in monochrome and two in colour categories by any one author.

SPF – Scottish Photographic Federation. Umbrella organisation representing the majority of photographic clubs in Scotland.PAGB – Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. Umbrella organisation of the photographic Federations within the UK. See SPF.FIAP – Fedération Internationale de l’Art Photographique.International organisation to co-ordinate and offer patronage to international Salons, competitions and exhibitions, also, to offerDistinctions to individual photographers recognising competence.RPS – Royal Photographic Society. Membership organisation, founded 1853, to promote the art and science of photography.DOF – Depth of field.Mono – Monochromatic, usually applied to describing an image of various degrees of one colour, ranging from black, through that onecolour, to white.AV – Audio Visual. The process of presenting photographs with commentary or music to tell a story or communicate a theme.PDI – Projected Digital Image. Usually jpg image files.RAW File – An almost uncompressed file allowing maximum adjustment through image enhancement programmes.JPG / JPEG – Common image format. Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG).TIFF – Tagged Information File Format. A high fidelity computer file format for handling digital images that does not sacrifice colour andform detail in the way that ‘lossy’ compression formats such as GIF, JPEG and PNG do.